


a challenge of friendship

by wayslide



Series: friendship for ninjas 101 [1]
Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayslide/pseuds/wayslide
Summary: "Sensei," Shikako said in the too-innocent voice that meant she was cackling on the inside because she was about to roast him, "I think this means you not only have friends, you have a friendcircle.It's a beautiful thing." She pretended to wipe a tear away. "I'm so proud."(Kakashi is challenged by Gai to prove himself the better friend. Tenzou doesn't deserve any of this. Set after the ANBU Arc.)
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou
Series: friendship for ninjas 101 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901791
Comments: 55
Kudos: 416
Collections: Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection





	a challenge of friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Not a sequel to [dawn goes up to day](https://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/Heliocentrism/works/18867865) by [wafflelate](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/wafflelate/pseuds/wafflelate), but I did read it like right before I wrote this and therefore deserves a shout out for inspiring my nonsense.
> 
> Pretend that Gai and Tenzou have never met, because I sure did.

Tenzou was battle-alert within a half second of Kakashi's brows drawing together; then it was gone when Kakashi relaxed back into carefully constructed casualness. Kakashi took a moment to marvel at how much Tenzou trusted him still. Then again, their disagreement had never been about trust or loyalty. Just about Kakashi preferring to never be fully honest about himself.

Personally, Kakashi thought it was asking a lot for him to be honest about himself when he was doing, in his opinion, a pretty decent job at being honest about everything else. Well, as much as he could be, anyway.

Hm. Was that contradictory?

Maa.

More importantly, Shikako had dropped her scent-blocking. Since she was something of a paranoid freak, even for a shinobi (Kakashi allowed himself a little swell of pride about this), it had to be a warning, specifically to him. Only, he didn't have any clues what it might be about.

Kakashi tucked Icha Icha away and slid his hands in his pockets. There was no distress in her scent, so whatever it was probably wasn't heading his way to kill him. He was as ready as he was going to be.

He was immediately proven wrong when Shikako came into view, accompanied by a very unimpressed-looking Sasuke and _Gai._

"Rival!" Gai exclaimed.

"Hm," Kakashi said. He glanced at Tenzou out of the corner of his eye and was amused to see that Tenzou had bounced back up to about 45% battle-readiness.

"Hip and Cool as usual, my rival!" Gai locked on to Tenzou with the focus of a predator bird on its vulnerable bunny prey and pronounced, "You must be Tenzou, the esteemed individual whom my Eternal Rival has called, in his own words and under minimal enemy provocation," he paused dramatically, "a _friend_." His eyes were sparkling.

Kakashi squinted a look at Shikako, the only one of his cute students who would be mean enough to tell Gai about that. She just grinned back at him.

"Er," Tenzou said, eyes flickering with alarm between Kakashi and Shikako and Gai. "You must be…Gai." Almost as an afterthought, or possibly as a last-minute defense, he added, "Kakashi's other friend."

Gai's hair swished almost audibly in the air when he snapped his head around to look Kakashi.

"You can't prove I said that," Kakashi said quickly, which Gai seemed to take as confirmation that he had, judging from the way Gai's eyes filled with tears.

"Eternal Rival," Gai choked out, and then took a moment to compose himself. "Eternal… _Friend._ " He did not hug Kakashi, but Kakashi could tell it was a near thing. As it was, Gai took a few slightly unstable steps towards Kakashi, slapped his hands solidly down on his shoulders so Kakashi could not run away, and then really let the waterworks happen. "Kakashi…!"

Kakashi glanced over Gai's shoulder for help. Sasuke's face had gone still as a stone, which meant he was doing everything he could to suppress laughter. Shikako was making the face that said _I forgot that there exist phenomenon in the world that are even better than making things explode_. Tenzou looked dazed.

Great.

"There, there," Kakashi said, and awkwardly patted Gai's elbow. "Er."

Gai collected himself with admirable haste, not-so-discreetly wiping his face on his sleeve. "I misspoke, friend!" he announced. "I meant of course that we shall be both Eternal Rivals and Eternal Friends! I have the utmost confidence that you will rise to the challenge of excelling at both!" He brightened. "In fact—"

"Oh no," Kakashi said.

There was a glint in Gai's eye. "I challenge you to prove once and for all which of us is the better friend!"

Kakashi attempted some damage control. "I forfeit." He was soundly ignored. 

"Shikako! Sasuke!" Gai cried out. "Beloved students of my most esteemed rival, I have utmost faith in your ability to be objective in judgment! Will you act as moderators for this challenge?"

"We are delighted to accept, of course," Shikako said solemnly. Sasuke made some noise of protest, but fell silent when Shikako kicked him. "However, in the spirit of fairness and objectivity, I must insist that Lee, Tenten, and Neji also be judges."

"A most agreeable suggestion!" Gai shouted.

A tree began to weep loudly. "Gai-sensei!" it sobbed. "I would be honored!"

There was a gusty sigh and then Lee appeared from behind the tree, unceremoniously shoved into view. Tenten stepped out after him. After a moment, Tenten directed a very severe look upwards and Neji dropped down reluctantly from the branches.

"Oh," Kakashi said, unenthusiastically. "You're all here."

"Now we must decide on a target for this challenge!" Gai announced, and eyed Tenzou hopefully. Tenzou looked back, the look in his eyes going slightly wild as he started to understand what was happening.

"Gai—" Kakashi tried.

"No, I couldn't possibly—" Tenzou managed before Shikako— _traitor_ —cut him off.

"Of course!" She beamed, clapping her hands together in sheer delight at Kakashi's misfortune. "Tenzou would be the perfect candidate for this! Only if you don't mind, senpai." She turned the same doe-eyed hopeful look on Tenzou. He crumbled under the onslaught.

"Um," Tenzou said hesitantly, "I guess I don't _mind._ "

"Then it's settled!" Shikako said happily, and pulled out a notebook and began scribbling into it furiously. Sasuke leaned over her shoulder to read it. Tenten went to her side to do the same, Lee bouncing alongside. Neji did not move for a moment before he sighed and joined the others. It only took a few moments of scribbling before it devolved into a furious whispered discussion and then Shikako announced, "We've come up with a rubric!" and tucked it away before Kakashi could attempt to get a glimpse of it. He pouted at her.

"You have twenty-four hours from now," Tenten said. "We'll follow and observe during those twenty-four hours and then reconvene here to announce the results."

"I believe in you, Gai-sensei!" Lee said.

Kakashi won the challenge, but only on a technicality and despite the fact he made Tenzou cry by offering to pay for lunch.

"But it proves that I know him and what affects him emotionally!" Kakashi had argued. He was a little upset at this ruling. He'd thought it was his ultimate friendship move and it was alarming to discover that it was being judged as the opposite.

"Blatant emotional manipulation," Tenten said, almost accusingly.

"Not even strategic," Shikako said. "Now you're going to have to find something else to do if you want to make a big emotional statement." Tenten eyed her very warily. Neji and Sasuke didn't blink at this. Kakashi couldn't tell if it was because they thought it was just an accurate description of Kakashi's version of friendship or if they actually just thought this situation was normal, or at least normal for Shikako.

"Besides, there was no reason to prove that," Sasuke said. "You proved it by giving him space until he went looking for you." Gai, on the other hand, had been irrepressibly Gai, meaning that he had badgered Tenzou into all kinds of activities and training with him until Tenzou had made inappropriate use of his ANBU stealth skills to run away.

"Friends respect each other's boundaries!" Gai said, and hit Kakashi with a Nice Guy Smile. "I learned that one from Genma! However, I have not yet found an accurate way to measure where those boundaries are without encountering them at least once!" He laughed jovially. "You can only live and learn every time!" This explained a lot.

Kakashi took a moment to make a mental note to thank Genma somehow. It would probably alarm Genma greatly, but that would just be a bonus.

"I will endeavor to learn your boundaries as I have learned those of my Rival's!" Gai told Tenzou enthusiastically. "That is what one does for a friend!"

Tenzou's eyes nearly crossed. "Um, right," he managed weakly. "We're…friends now?" He sounded confused.

"Sensei," Shikako said in the too-innocent voice that meant she was cackling on the inside because she was about to roast him, "I think this means you not only have friends, you have a friend _circle._ It's a beautiful thing." She pretended to wipe a tear away. "I'm so proud."

"They grow up so quickly," Sasuke agreed, voice flat.

"Rival!" Gai boomed, and nearly blinded Kakashi with a mega-watt version of his Nice Guy Smile. "It warms my heart greatly to see how your beloved students care for your well-being!"

"Maybe that's heartburn?" Kakashi suggested. Gai laughed loudly and slapped Kakashi so hard on the back that Kakashi thought _he_ was getting heartburn.

"You shouldn't have let them bond," Tenten sighed at Kakashi. "Look what you've done."

"But Tenten, how else would I learn to embrace the springtime of my youth?" Shikako chirped, batting her eyelashes.

Neji rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, where they stayed for a long while, possibly searching for a god to save him. Sasuke looked tired. So tired.

"Maa," Kakashi said, amused despite himself. "Who am I to deny my cute little genin her fun?"

Lee looked torn between delight and confusion. "None of us are genin," he said, perplexed.

While unsupervised, Gai had cornered Tenzou and was saying, "We must spar together again sometime, friend, and you must come to the next meeting of the Friends of Kakashi Emotional Support Group—"

"Wait, what?" Kakashi said.

Shikako burst out laughing. "Ha! That's hilarious! Oh, sensei." She shook her head.

Kakashi noticed Tenten and Neji share a very meaningful look. He would eat his shoe if there wasn't a Friends of Shikako Emotional Support Group. That made him feel a little better about this situation. Not that it was going to stop him from infiltrating this group and making every single member pay for their sins. (Also, who else was in this group? Gai said _Friends_ like he wasn't the only one in it, and he didn't think Gai was misguided enough to have meetings for just one person and he said it like the meetings happened _regularly_ —)

"Senpai," Tenzou said plaintively. "Why have you let this happen to me?"

"Maa," Kakashi said, leaning back against a tree and pulling Icha Icha back out. "It's always good to make new friends."

**Author's Note:**

> The Friends of Kakashi Emotional Support Group also acts as something like a pre-meeting for the Friends of Gai Emotional Support Group, which convenes immediately afterwards.


End file.
